Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-08-20
he meet left bahind him.

Another curious feature. of Mexican life is the manner of conducting funer- als. The rich go to the cemeteries in carriages, as elsewhere; the middle classes go on the street cars, coffin and all; while the poor walk and carry their dead upon their shoulders. When horse-csrs were first introduced into the Mexican capital. the manager of the line conceived the plan of buying and retir- ing all the hearses. Then he put funer- al cars on that branch running to the | cemetery, and the result vas that every body wishIng to bury in cohsecrated ground, was at his mercy li soon be- came the fashion to visit the pRateOn in she horse cars. and sll except those two cxtremes-the very richest and she very pOarest-nox avail themselves of the privilege,
 One frequently encounters 6 funeral procession of this kind en route to the grave. the car being drsped in black if the corpse be that of man. or in white fl it be & woman or ohild.-the coffin ex- posed to the full glaIe of the sun and the <aze of tho popuIsce; ihe hotses, with their nodding plumes. driven by a spruce yonng man ID conventional uniform, A1A NLC hLt U4OuIncKr gliding gaily over the rails, The price for this service is graduated to suit the taste or necessities of the beresved, and ranges from 8 to s3O0-dspending upon the nesrse equipments, the num- Der of horses and iivsrIed attendants.
 Not far from Mexico City. near the end of the shortest of those four Aztec causeways leading out of the ancient renochtitlan, is tbe finest cemetery in the republic-the Psnteon de San Fer nardo, Among the avenues through which you pass 10 reach this interesting suburb. IS one called Cslle de los Hon haes Ilusires-"the street of Ilustrious I Men," but most of MeIico's heroes now reside little farther Op, in the more silent quarter of San Fernando, either sepuIchred ID costly marble or sheltered m the Columbsria. after Ihe olty fashion of this country of the coun- l try.
 Some of these tombs are beautiful be- yOnd description m many of them the rarest onyx bavIng been used m the most lavish manner. Here It IS custom aFy to set photographs of the dead ID iheir grave stones, and to keep lamps psrpetuslly burning before them, the sacred flame religiOusly attended by successive generations. By far the richest sculpture is all the vast oolleo- ton is that above the remains of of the Indian president, Jusres-The Wash
 ngton of Mexico" Here also lie buried many Of the unlucky leaders and gener- 4ls who were executed by their country men-either by the people because they favored SpeIn, or by the Spsniards be- cause they favored the people.
 There has been 8 great improvement ID Mexico in the matter of funerals with ID the last few years. Still. owing to the scarcity of wood, which costs from s60 to sl00 per thousand feet, nd the Sretchedly small wages of the working clssses-the poor generally rent soffin for the last sad journey, st the cost Cf | about dollar. Arriving st the ceme- ! tery, the body IS taken out and wrapped | in 6 serBpe, laid in its rented grave. and the gorgeously paiuted box returned 10 its owner. In thousands ot cases the grave is rented only for the space of three or four months, and at the end of that time the bones are shoveled out tO make room for new tenant. | Quick lime IS thrown ID with the corpse to hasten the work of decomposision-but Il is no ' uncommon sight to see, kicked about | the charuel yard of interior villages. | skulls with tresses Hong hair attached f, and other horrors which Phov that no .screduess Is here attached to the dead. To the average Mexican the idea of death has no terrors, and be dies as in | differently as he has lived. In many | villages the custom IS still extsnt of decorating dead children with the wings ot geese and turkeys, paper crowns. rIb- | nons and flowers; then marching them | about the streets seated in 6 chair, and | burying them amid the noise of fire | crackers and minstrels playing polkss and fsndsDgoes.
 | A few years ago one of the most cele- brated writers on Mexico said: "iu the | Capital, as well as in the interior, have seen even more revolting things. The merchants hire dead bodies, called spgeletss (nev-born sngels) ss 6 means | Of attracting customers. The gathering crowd pray st first; then they drink ', while the muohsohas mske appoint ments with their lovers. Thus the body serves several merchants in town. earn ing for its relatives sn honest penny, and it is no, buried until too offensive ,o be longer endured"
 Even more curious are the customs of All Salnts' Day, and the following eight days Ear for the Dead" Then all the shops are Tn holiday drees bull lights and theatres in full blast, and deslers in cakes and bon-bOns drive 6 lively trade. But the confeotions must all be appro- priate to the sesson-such, for instance, as jointed skel stons Tn spring boxes, deaths heads ID sugar, csndy csdsvors, cakes in the form of catasslques. etc. Every good Mexican attends this Fair, tor the sake of his departed ancestors
 and as little gifts cherish pure shec-
 ton, the lover presents his sweetheart
 with a sugar skeleton, or 8 skull ss biz
 as her fist, the husband regsles his wife
 on a taffy sepulchre. and the fond
 mother indulges her child in complete
 burial scene. So everybody renders
 himself and hIs friends ss happy ss
 possible. These strange tokens help to
 foster the national indifference to death
 Near this San Fernando psntson' if
 the Onurch of San HypolIto-one of the
 most attractive in MeIico. It was re-
 bull. in 1899. when CorteE had hermit
 age ID commemorstion of the expulsion !
 wall enclosing this church is a queer
 carving Tn stone. representing an eagle flying away with sn Indian. Whether
 ls is meant to convey the ides of defea'
 or victory for the Indian of the raps-
 city of the cOnquerors or the trsnslstior
 ot the Aztec to the realms of supeTna
 bliss, is wholly a matter of conjecture.
 Near this church IS the famous discE
 which Alvarsdo lesped-sccording tS
 bis ovn sccount-on that dIssstroui
 night known,ss the noche trieste. beins
 commander of the rear guard. he va
 one of the few who escaped. and svoE
 ed that he owed his life Co 6 gigsnhS
 leap, assisted by his spurs, across one o
 the great canals from which the brids'
 has been removed. Captain B. Dias vh'
 took part in the fray. writing of thes'
 events fifty years ago, stoutly innsi'
 that Alvarsdo lied. and that no humsr being could have made such leap. ,si
 the sperature was too wide and tbe side } too high to permit of it's accomplish ment.
 Continuing in this route, toward ths famous tree of the noche trieste," un , der which CsrteE sat down and vept oI th at sad night while bis army was tee
 : L -. Gnla many ohiAata Of inter